A very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2016 to all our followers, and thank you for your interest and support over the past year. Here's a photo taken during the Christmas Truce of 1914, when German and British soldiers played football in no mans land between trenches. (Lets try to remember this when we're fighting over the remote later!)

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) in the wider Drogheda area has been busy in the run up to Christmas. The society has a long history in the town and is spread across eight conferences. For the past month it has been engaged in activities involving but not restricted to house visits and hamper provision in a bid to alleviate the discomfort and misery caused by poverty.

Staring into the abyss due to a illness she was in a state of despair:

My neighbour suggested St Vincent de Paul and I brushed it off because I thought it was for people who were so much worse off than me. “But Sam said ‘Michelle, you can’t afford to buy formula. This is desperation.’

And so I made that phone call. The following Monday a chap called Shane Burke arrived. Instantly all my worries were gone. They made the whole process so dignified as I explained my situation. At the time he was asking me how I was for bills and food but my main concern that week was the fact that I had no heating.

The following week he said they would be able to help me fix the boiler. I had to borrow the balance from my mum and I will pay her back. But without St Vincent de Paul my house would still be an ice-box.

Two weeks later Shane asked me how I was and things still hadn’t improved. I still hadn’t gotten my lone parents allowance. I told him I was really really struggling. He arranged for Aldi food vouchers to be dropped to my house that week and a fuel delivery of coal.

While these actions on their own will not cause the eradication of poverty they can make a difference for the human person trapped in its grip.

To donate please visit: www.svp.ie
or do so by calling into one of the SVP shops.